Hansson works as a firefighter outside refereeing and is fluent in Swedish, English and German.

[4] He refereed the second leg of the France vs Republic of Ireland 2010 FIFA World Cup play-off.

[5] French captain Thierry Henry admitted to illegally handling the ball in the build-up to the match-winning goal, an incident that was compared to Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" goal.

[6] Henry and Hansson both considered retiring from international football due to the reactions to the game.

Ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Sveriges Television showed Swedish director Mattias Löw's award-winning documentary Rättskiparen (English Title: The Referee) about Martin Hansson's dramatic road to South Africa.